We could learn alot from crayons…..

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp and brand new, some have been well used, some are brightly colored, some have subtle hues, some have weird names, and all are different colors….but they all exist very nicely in the same box.” I read this quote on a newletter I get (although it did not mention the source/author of the quote… anyone?), and thought it was very apt for today’s celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Birthday. It would be a gift to our children if we could leave them a world that was like the crayon box.

Now that they are 11 and 8 (and 4 of course, but he is still a bit young to truly grasp it all) it is time to read and help them understand some of what Dr. King wrote. A friend of ours is taking an education course, and his professor simply stated as they left last week, that he hoped they would take the time to read some of Dr. King’s writings. And our friend shared that thought with us, and said he and his kids had sat down and read King’s Letter from the Birmingham Jail. This holiday has been a much needed catch up for me, as I still struggle with combining work and family.. but I was glad to be reminded that at the very least, I need to expose my children to what this day is all about. If I do not teach them the lessons of the past, we will be no closer to our happy little crayon box than before.

I found what I needed on the web and will be sharing with them at dinner. So I guess I should be going and preparing said dinner. We all need to learn to exist nicely in the same box… no matter what gender, what age, what ethnicity, what religion, what poltical views, what weight, what height, what kind of eyes, what color hair, what type of toothpaste we use, which football team we route for….